Monthly Archives: July 2013

I have to confess that although I’ve been keeping busy, I have also been procrastinating. Picking up my paintbrush to start some new paintings has been building up into a very daunting and intimidating task…it’s been a while since I last painted, and putting it off is only making me anxiously question my practice and use of paint further. Not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose, but really, I think I just need to go ahead and dive back into it, and shove all apprehension aside!

In the meantime (while avoiding painting), I have been productive in designing a new pair of earrings that I plan to produce in a limited production! They are based off of some of my recent neckpieces that utilize angular components.

I have also been continuing to play with different compositions in wax (which can be later cast in metal). Possible booch or neckpiece components…

And lastly, I took a plunge into exploring some completely new forms- tiny synclastic oval forms. I am very curious about re-exploring the direct application of paint on metal, but within a concave or partially enclosed form. I extensively explored the use of oil paint on metal when I was in my third year of my undergrad. It was a challenging investigation (see post on my former blog), but I may revisit it at some point.

I have spent the past few weeks immersed in the design process. I have been sketching, cutting, pasting, model-making, arranging and rearranging. Some days it feels like I have gotten nowhere, other days are more promising, and I can begin to envision the direction I want my work to take next.

After the SNAG conference was over, I took some time to reflect upon my own art practice, and my processes of making. Only recently have I started to utilize casting as a method of creating multiples of my work, and thought I should continue exploring its place in my practice. I’ve really enjoyed working with angular components, and wanted to try making molds and casting these forms. I decided to start by playing around with scale: scale up? scale down? I worked with paper cutouts to get a feel for scale.

I also used the paper cutouts to create some patterns and compositions.

I decided on seven different sized forms, made a metal frame of the silhouettes, and took them to be molded. With the molds I can create the framework in wax- perfect for playing around with compositions- and later cast the wax forms in metal. Here are a couple compositions I tried out in wax:

I haven’t done any painting in a while, but it has been on my mind constantly. I really want to push my use of paint, and its incorporation into my jewelry pieces. Taking some time to focus on the material properties of paint and its potential not only to contribute color, but also texture and volume into my work, is something I feel I need to do. Experimenting with paint thickness is going to be forefront of my upcoming experimentation.